


Day 11 - Laboratory

by ReaderRose



Series: 30 Days of Writing [11]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (I'll warn for it anyway), (sort of), 30 Days of Writing, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Anxiety, Career Change, Drabble Sequence, Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Nervousness, Papyrus Has Issues, Pre-Canon, Science, Underswap Papyrus, Underswap Undyne - Freeform, imposter syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-03-14
Packaged: 2019-03-31 03:32:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13966449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderRose/pseuds/ReaderRose
Summary: UNDERSWAP(a version of it)On Papyrus’s first day at the laboratory, he is nervous. In fact, it’s safe to say that he has never been more nervous in his life...





	Day 11 - Laboratory

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in my version of Underswap, which is closer to canon personalities. Though, Papyrus is nervous and going through some Stuff so his personality doesn't really seem to reflect canon or common underswap.

On Papyrus’s first day at the laboratory, he is nervous. In fact, it’s safe to say that he has never been more nervous in his life!!! **  
**

See, Papyrus is a brilliant engineer, supposedly, maybe, but the Royal Scientist is on another level, and the amount of knowledge and talent and understanding in this building is massive. So when he stares up at the intimidating, solid white structure in the middle of a sea of red fire, no one could blame him for his instincts screaming as him to run the other way!

He doesn’t really belong here…

He goes inside.

 

* * *

 

He tries to stay out of the way

In fact, for the first half hour, he doesn’t even introduce himself. He just waits near the entrance and tries not to take up space. If anyone notices him, they don’t question him. Everyone is too busy and they all know their place.

Papyrus doesn’t, but there is no way his place is here.

Eventually someone spots him. Yells at him to get over to them and hold a bag for them to spill a failed experiment into.

She’s his superior, and she’s loud and proud and confident and everything Papyrus isn’t.

 

* * *

 

She calls him Dr. Gaster, and he explains he isn’t a doctor, while watching the floor beneath him to await its opening beneath him, pulling him into a safe cocoon of boiling magma. It doesn’t happen, and here’s left feeling so much more uncomfortable than he would be if it had.

“SO, Does that make you Master Gaster, then!?”

She laughs and he tries to but he just locks up. She gives him a hand on the shoulder that almost feels like a slap and tells him to make some coffee.

He does.

“Now drink it!”

He does.

She grins.

 

* * *

 

A hand tugs him, drags him, across the room, and soon they’re hiding behind a boiler, and she’s pointing a claw at a man deep in thought.

“That’s Dr. G̷̢̫̫͚̥̫͌͌͊̐͑̅̎̕͢͜͡_̡̛̮̩̺͖̙̰̻̉̄͑̃͜͞Ş̱͙̜̤̻̎̈͂̔̌̓̓͌͜͠ͅ_̴̙͇̗͎͆͊̀̔̿̈̒̆̾͜Ė̡̤̮͎͉̟̐͗͒͊͝͠R̺̺̹̠̱͚̳̱̙̎̔̓̓̾̒̒̈̑͜͠.  He’s the royal scientist!”

He doesn’t hear it right, but it didn’t matter. He knows. He nods. Says “oh.” but he has nothing to say because he wants to gush and ramble and rave about what a brilliant mind the doctor is, all the research and all the studies and what an inspiration the man, his boss, is…

But no one wants to listen to that. He’ll just embarrass himself.

 

* * *

 

Undyne doesn’t give him orders.

He’s an intern. He expected to be making coffee and answering phones, but instead she just shows him different experiments that seem to have little to do with their intended goals, and most of these experiments end in fire.

Then the doctor laughs and hits him in the shoulder and asks if he thought it was cool.

He locks up. He doesn’t know what to say, so he just agrees.

She doesn’t seem to get any work done all day. He doesn’t get it.

What’s the point? He’s so nervous. Nothing seems to get done.

 

* * *

 

“HEY!!!” As he’s about to leave (the day is over), she stops him. Grabs his wrist.

He did something wrong.

She looks at him, his arm, her hand; lets go; frowns.

“Listen,”she says and he listens, “sorry if I’m a little pushy. I was just so pumped to get an intern!!!”

…?

“I’m the youngest one here. The doc is like literally ancient? So I guess I just kind of forgot that I was getting a co-worker and not a new best friend.”

He stares at her, and she starts watching the floor.  

“Um… anyway… sorry for being unprofessional.”

 

* * *

 

And then she walks away.

And he’s left confused.

He does his research that night.

Undyne is the doctor’s protege.

She’s a brilliant physicist. A prodigy.

And she wanted to be his friend. He doesn’t get it. Why would anyone want to befriend him? He’s not cool.

He does more research. He tries to some his first puzzle on the job. It’s strange. It’s awkward. It’s all confusing. He needs to understand.

He doesn’t sleep that night. Sans makes a joke about it in the morning, and another as he’s leaving, but Papyrus ignores his brother,  as they often do.

 

* * *

 

On Papyrus’s second day, he walks in with a confident stride and finger guns co-workers as he goes.

He’s wearing sunglasses.

He offers his boss, the big boss, a fist bump, and he doesn’t show a hint of surprise when the old man accepts it and laughs. With him. Not at him. Which is odd, for an elder to do.

When he reaches Undyne, Papyrus apologizes.

“sorry, boss! i got a bit locked up there yesterday. first day jitters. i’m actually really

…chill?”

Papyrus tries hard to play it cool. They don’t know he isn’t, yet.

He’s so freaking nervous.

**Author's Note:**

> SOOO I was going to make this a two parter deal, with a longer version of this one for “nervous” and a second part for “laboratory” but I have such writers block for that and making these two a combo makes catching up for my second missed day that much harder. 
> 
> (I missed because had an alarm set for my nap, woke up, laughed at my past self’s hubris and lack of self-control, and turned off the alarm before going back to bed) 
> 
> So Day 12 will be up tomorrow-ish and something completely different than I had initially planned, and what this was supposed to be and what that was supposed to be will eventually be a single oneshot or two-shot I’ll write another time, not as part of the


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